Apricity
by Vanessaarcher
Summary: Victor Fries, a cryobiologist, makes his way through GothCorp with constant bullying. That is, until he finds an Intern, who shares his uncommon interests.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I have decided to begin another story, so that I don't get tied down to a specific storyline.**

 **This idea has been bugging me for a while, so I decided to reintroduce this pairing to the fandom, since a lot of people I affiliate with didn't even know the characters!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.**

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Apricity- it represents a simple and familiar yet a very specific phenomenon: the sun's warmth on a cold winter's day.

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Victor sighed as he began filing his reports into the bulky computer. He had began a new experiment, and without a warrant, he wasn't allowed to continue it. How often he dreamed being his own master, rather than in bondage of a manager that didn't even support his branch of science.

Not like it ever came true.

GothCorp wasn't exactly a fair business, no matter what the sign suggested.

Shrugging off his thin gray sweater, he finished typing up his report, filling in all the blanks. Organizing his desk once more, Victor took his time lining up his pens perfectly parallel to eachother. Glancing at the fluorescent screen, he saw the little arrow pointing to the file he had just saved. It meant that the wireless had disconnected, and the file needed to be resent.

Letting out a small breath of annoyance, he rolled his eyes. His type of science wasn't well studied, so he had gotten the lowest floor in the building. And not just an office on ground floor. His office was sixteen stories sub-ground level. The idea of having people down there working should've been illegal because of all the nonexistent safety precautions.

No one seemed to care, or even notice Victor at work, except when he rarely went upstairs for a water break. Even then, everyone would ignore him as he coldly made his way through the crowd. Red lipsticked women, and plastic haired men conversed, not thinking of anything but themselves.

One time, Victor had been confronted about his pessemistic view of his fellow workers. After learning about what he studied, the woman commented "Some people say that your actions define you as a person, and I believe that the saying fits you perfectly." She slapped him, causing pain to fly swiftly to his cheek. After that experience, Victor learned to disregard other's opinions. It made himnsound a little egotistical, but what was the point of listening to opinions if they were wrong?

He had been too caught up organizing that he didn't realize that the file had successfully been sent. Pressing the print button on the computer, he walked over to the intercom, and pressed the red button.

With one hand, he buttoned up his gray and white argyled sweater again, and waited for the receptionist to pick up.

After a few minutes of waiting, she didn't pick up so Victor began his journey up to the fifteenth level above ground level. He had to walk up a grand total of thirty stories. Taking his keys off his lanyard, he locked the door behind him, and silently wished he could afford a printer in his office. Or, maybe a receptionist that did their job right.

The sub-ground levels didn't have a functional elevator, and the labs in levels six to fifteen were kicked out of business.

Victor remained on the bottom floor, no matter what he did to prove his right for a promotion.

Trudging up all thirty stories, Victor allowed himself a small rest break. He absolutely loathed floor fifteen. It was full of slackers, and office workers, his least favorite type of people. Typically, fresh out of college students that would get richer than him in decade than his entire life.

Making his way through the crowds of people, he opted to touch the least of them as possible. He wasn't a germaphobe, he just didn't think unneccessary human interaction felt pleasant. In fact, he believed it to be complete folly, with no feeling whatsoever.

Out of nowhere someone yelled "Look! The Iceman has come out of his freezer." Some people began to laugh and insult him further.

Victor was shocked. Usually people just left him alone, or treated him like a stranger. What had happened?

Running a hand through his messy brown hair, he rolled his eyes and pushed through the crowd. As he walked to the kitchen, he felt hundredz of judging eyes burning into his back.

Opening the communal fridge, Victor took out a water bottle. Placing it on the counter, he opened the generic wooden cupboards and pulled out a clear cup. Opening the freezer section of the fridge, Victor plunged his hands into the chilly crystals. Placing a few of the cubes in the cup, he let one sit semi-liquidous on his hand. Taking a small magnifying glass out of his coat, Victor became enraptured by the crystallized bonds.

Eventually, Victor put away his magnifying glass, and poured water into his plastic cup. Glancing at his watch, he figured that most of the company would leave in ten minutes. Taking another sip of his ice-cold water, he made his way into the large printing room.

And it was a printing room to be proud of. Bruce Wayne's CFO, Lucius Fox had designed the room to be as effecient as possible. Printing rooms in most offices caused build up, but since GothCorp was funded by a billionaire, he wanted work done as easily as possible.

Checking printer 7B-1620, he found the paper he had needed to file his experiment. Stapling the papers, he took a ballpoint pent from a tumbled rock filled jar, and signed it with his best handwriting. Holding the pen in the corner of his mouth, he started rechecking all his work, to find any mistakes. Like always, there were none.

As he walked through the printing room doors, he saw that the whole stories' lights had been left on. Victor huffed as he slowly walked to the opposite side of the room to the master switch panel. By the time he had made it halfway across the room he heard the cracking of glass, and then the soft sound of movement. It was practically unnoticeable, but definitely there. He spun around, but couldn't detect where the sound was coming from.

Tilting his head up, he flinched as a shadowy figure fell ontop of him. Victor's head made contact with the floor, and he felt a wave of darkness wash over him.

* * *

Victor blinked, opening his eyes slowly to the abusing fluorescent lights. Victor looked to his side, expecting to see his commercial brand alarm clock with its luminescent red numbers. What he didn't expect was the Gotham City Sirens playing strip poker on the linoleum floors.

His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he took in his surroundings. The Gotham City Sirens in his office building, playing strip poker. He nearly passed out again, until one of the girls saw him struggling to stay conscious.

Catwoman smirked "Look, girls." she drawled "Mr. Science here looks like he has never seen a girl half naked before. Oh, wait! He probably hasn't."

Harley Quinn burst into giggles as she slowly licked her lollypop. Poison Ivy saw what she was attempting, and shook her head. "Harls, no. You're not doing _that_ to the scientist."

The red and black clad jester frowned "You know how much I like bondage." Ivy shook her head again, and dragged Harley over to the vending machine.

It was only then that Victor realized that he was tied to a metal pole against the wall, next to a broken window. So that's what he heard shatter. Looking down at the thick ropes, he saw a small wire attached. He followed the wire all the way to Catwoman's clawed gloves. Demon's claws.

He laughed silently, which caused Catwoman's triumphant smile to falter.

"What's so funny, geek?" She looked absolutely furious that he was joking in his position. His frosty eyes met hers again, and he began to speak very calmly.

"I'm not in any danger. You don't really have anything to threatdn me with. Whatever you need, just ask. I despise this company anyways." And he spoke the truth.

Catwoman smiled harshly "Of course you are in trouble." She fondled the bomb in one hand, and used the other to drag her diamond tipped nails over the metal to produce a sharp shrieking sound. Then, she touseled his hair. Once she had all fve fingers in his hair, she gripped it forcefully and pushed his head against the metal pole.

She continued her monologue "In fact, this is a high-powered bomb full of chloride gas. It'll kill you almost instantly."

He shook his head, which was very, _very_ difficult in his situation. "No, its just a lightbulb with some extra fancy bits. Who brought it?"

Harley and Ivy came back, only to be glared at. Catwoman smiled through clenched teeth "Harley," she began sweetly "Did you give the real bomb to the Joker?"

Harley pretended to look shocked; she pointed to herself and mouthed "Me?" Realizing that no one bought the act, she frowned and pointed her nose in the air. "Of course I gave it to the Joker. He asked for it, and who am I to deny him?"

Both Ivy and Catwoman sighed. Of course she had given it to her "puddin'". Catwoman rubbed her temple and quickly tried to think up a new plan. Harley believed that both her surrogate sisters were mad at her, and she started sobbing, quite loudly. Ivy walked over to her and began rubbing her shoulders to calm her down.

The feline-like woman snapped and pointed at Victor. "If you resist being our hostage, we'll push you out the window. No one knows about our break in, so no one could save you."

A deep voice echoed throughout the room "I wouldn't be to sure about that." Then it attacked.

All Victor could see was smoke, since Catwoman dropped the faux bomb. When it cleared, Victor saw that his savior was Batman, the World's Greatest Detective. Of course he would discover the breakout before anyone else.

Victor shuffled his hands around so he could reach his pockets. Thankfully, the three villainesses didn't take away his magnifying glass. He slowly unscrewed the plastic black handle, and revealed an exacto knife.

He carefully cut through the ropes and stood up shakily on his worn out loafers. His foot cramped and Victor nearly fell down again from the agony of the foreign feeling.

In the backround, Victor could hear the grunts and groans of fighting. He ran blindly away from the sounds, and promptly tripped. By the time Victor sat up, Batman had already tied up the troublemakers with his grappling hook. He saw that Victor had sat up, and threw a mobile phone at him.

"Call the GCPD. I'll write a note to your boss explaining what happened."

Victor was stunned. Once Batman saw that he wasn't making any progress, he growled "Get on with it."

This caused Victor to come out of his stupor, and quickly pressed the buttons to notify the police what happened. Soon enough he heard sirens surrounding the building. It was only then when Victor realized that he had been holding his breath. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he released the unneccessary air.

He heard faint shouting, and saw navy-clothed cops run through the floor to find the women tied back-to-back with Batman's grappling hook. Two officers found Victor, and shined their flashlights into his eyes to check for any concussions. Seeing that he had one, they assisted walking him down the stairs, and to the Police Station.

Of course, they were going to ask the nearly comatose victim what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait, but I'm working on a large project story. Most of my chapters are twelve notebook pages (college ruled). This, so far is twenty-seven. This isn't a long chapter, but it keeps the plot moving.**

* * *

"Sir!" the female officer said with little compassion. "Are you sure that you'll be alright?"

"Yes." Said Victor simply. He shrugged her work-calloused hands off his shoulders, and stood up fascing her. Walking out of the disorderly office, he picked his coat up from off the coatrack by the door, and turned around again, pushing the door open with his back.

Carefully he walked down the concrete stairs and onto the muddy sidewalks of Gotham City. He put on his coat, rolled up the bottom of his pants, and went on walking.

Without realizing it, Victor had traveled all the way back to work. It was crazy to understand that there was a subconscious comfort in constants. No matter how comforting habit was, Victor knew that change was necessary to evolve. Spinning tales of wonder, Victor was startled when he heard a voice come from the shaded part of his work building.

"I thought that I told you to stay home for the day." the deep voice threatened. Victor squinted his eyes through his glasses, but couldn't see until the figure stepped into the light.

"B-Batman!" Victor stammered. Quickly, a gloved hand clamped down over Victor's mouth. "You don't need to shout! Why are you here?" He questioned.

"U-uh, I had to get my work. I'm in the middle of writing a paper for a scientific journal." Victor admitted, gaining confidence. Noticing Batman's glare he shrank "It pertains to nothing at work, it simply highlights my interests in my field of work."

"Oh, really. What branch of science do you work in?" Batman said, keeping his overbearing posture.

Fiddling with his thick-rimmed glasses he answered "Cryobiology, and Cryonics."

"Huh," Batmam scoffed "You had to pick the most useless science ever invented. Most of that is theoretical, anyways."

His harsh comment felt like a strike in his heart, and his stomach dropped. Batman was disappointed in him, because of his interests. Who knew that Batman was so judgemental of the citizens of his city?

"Well, someone had to think it was useful, or I would have no job." Victor retorted.

Turning his head back into the alley, he muttered "Just stay out of trouble, okay? You may not be as luck next time."

Victor ignored him and walked on. Stepping through the large glass doors, he went straight to the elevator. He let the scanner run over his identification card, and entered the elevator. Punching his floor level's button, he waited for the elevator to reach his office. The familiar feeling of the elevator traveling downwards cleared his mind of Batman's cruel disappointment.

Sometimes, Victor wished he didn't have feelings so he could move on, but he learned that the trait was unattractive. He decided instead to mask his reactions, so it only looked like he didn't feel.

The metal doors opened, and Victor walked out expecting silence, and cool radiating from his lab. He should've known to always expect the unexpected.

He was automatically thrown into a large crowd of people. He raised his eyebrows, but shoved himself through the crowd until someone recognized him.

"Hey, Victor." The voice said. It was the same youth that had called him 'Iceman' the previous day. He grabbed Victor's shoulder. "Are you okay? I heard that you got tied up yesterday."

A woman's voice fluttered "Oh, he's caring, and he's handsome."

Once again, Victor denied the man the ability to console him. "I'm fine. I was caught by the Gotham City Sirens after cleaning up in the printer room."

The man guffawed "The Gotham City Sirens? How weak are you, Victor? What do all you guys say that we help toughen this guy up?"

The crowd cheered. "Let's get him!"

Victor's blue eyes widened as he opened his office door, and immediately shut it. He locked it, and for extrra safety, he dragged a chair under the handle. He closed the blinds, and sat in his courdoroy char, taking off his glasses.

This really wasn't his week, was it?

In the darkness, Victor fumbled around searching for his experiment papers so he could resume his work. He pulled out each drawer to look for them, but to no avail. Sighing he stood up, and crossed the threshold from carpet to linoleum.

In the center of the room was a large cylindrical chamber that he proposed could suspend any kind of life. He would begin with plants and amoebae, and eventually lead to humans. This was never studied because of the risk of killing living people, but Victor believed that he could get it.

Walking to the control panel, Victor took a small periwinkle flower from a small greenhouse, and placed it in the cylinder. Twisting the bolts shut, he sealed the chamber. He made sure the lock stayed shut before he moved to the water pump.

Turning it, Victor looked for the chemical pump, but remebered he had placed it on the opposite side of the tube. If the chemicals didn't mix right, the reaction wouldn't work right. Running to the chemical pump, he twisted on and then off again to save the chemicals.

He rushed to the water pump, he accidentally tore off the lever, and he freaked out. Opening a small transparent glass box, he pushed the emergency button, and water stopped flowing. He rubbed his forehead, and closed his eyes before recording the condition of his plant.

It was frostbitten! He groaned. People wouldn't mind a frostbitten plant, but if it was their loved one, they would never trust him

He walked over to his chair in his office and sat down again. Grabbing his desk, he pulled himself closer to the computer screen, and logged on. Quickly, he pulled up his e-mail and typed in the scientific journal's address.

He wrote to them stating that he needed a partner for his experiment, and that he would find one, but he needed more time for his report. He hoped that the journal would understand, and accept his position.

Victor typically worked solo, but he knew that without a partner he wouod overwork himself, and become sick because of stress. He also needed someone who would pay attention to him, making sure that he didn't go insane because of all the external forces working against him.

He was sick of being ignored. It physically pained him, even if he didn't admit it.

Opening his bottom drawer again, Victor pulled out a heavy blanket, and walked over to a couch that he ppaced in his office. Victor didn't really have a house. Ever since he graduated from college, he stayed at an old condo with his cousin Heimrich, who was from Germany. Moving a couch in made his office bearable. It also helped when he had late night lab duty, and fell asleep.

Pulling the blanket over his shoulders, he willed the cold to go away. He soon got used to the cold radiating from the cylinder, and Victor was left with silence.

'Silence is Golden' was the saying. But to Victor, it didn't seem right, so he modified it.

'Silence is Glass'. Fragile, he thought, but with a single intrusion, it would collapse. He dared not make a single sound.

Shuffling around on the couch, Victor attempted to get comfortable, and tried to sleep. As his eyes began to flutter shut, he heard a beep come from the direction of his computer, notifying a new message.

Groaning annoyedly, he shook off the blanket, and walked to his swivel chair. Sitting down in it, Victor adjusted his glasses, pushed back his hair, and clicked the mouse, opening his email.

A reply, Victor thought bewilderdly. It was hard to believe that anyone was that receptive. Opening it, he saw that the scientific journal understood his situation, and even made a list of candidates studying that would be willing to work with him.

He opened the file, holding his breath. As soon as it was fully downloaded, he looked at the number of students total and was pleasantly surprised.

Thirty-six students were studying Cryobiology or Cryonics, and that was just in Gotham City.

Senging a reply full of thanks, he printed the small list of students so that he could research them. Once again, Victor made his way to the 15th story, to the printer room. This time, he floded his shoulders into his body to appear less noticeable.

Once he walked out the elevator, he looked around, but no one looked at him, or even called him names. He walked quickly to the printing room, grabbed his papers, and went back down to his office. He began research immediately.


	3. Chapter 3

**Back with a new chapter of Apricity! I truly hope that you are enjoying this story. I finished my project, and you can find it on my profile.**

 **It's called Local Signaling Hormones. It's a Legion of Super Heroes fic. If you are part of the fandom, please check it out!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Shaking his head again, he groaned "Next." The punk student in front of him frowned, and bared his teeth.

"You're going to regret not choosing me." the kid warned agressively. Picking up his studded backpack, he pulled the door open, and then slammed it shut. Victor swore he could hear the student stomp all the way down the hallway.

Then he heard yet another knock on his door. Walking over to it hesitantly, he opened it to reveal another student looking for an internship. Straightening up, the teenager slicked back his hair and said "Oh, Sir! It's such an honor to meet you. I read your report on..."

Noticing that Mr. Fries wasn't listening to him, but rather rubbing his forehead, the student gasped. Dusting off his argyled sweater vest, he asked hurriedly "Are you okay? Was it something I said?"

Victor shook his head, which caused him to wince again. "Water break." he weakly called.

The nerdy student noticed that Victor was going to climb up the stairs to get some water. Running briskly to him, the student said "I'll get some water, you just sit down, Sir."

Annoyed, Victor complied and went back to his office. As he sat in his chair, Victor's stomach churned, so he set his head on his desk.

Victor wanted to be done with the interviews, especially because of the next client. He seemed like a suck-up, and Victor hated suck-ups.

Taking an opaque red bottle from his desk, he pulled out two pills and placed them on the wooden surface. Soon after that, the preppy student ran into the room with a glass of water.

Shakily placing it on the wooden desk, he sat in the chair, panting. Swallowing the pills, Victor rubbed his sore eyes.

The young student nervously spoke "I don't believe that I introduced myself. My name is Parker Drew."

Victor nodded. With his pen, he showed Parker his name on the long list of candidates. Twiddling with a button on his Oxford button, he paled slightly, knowing what would happen next.

Victor made a show of running a line through his name with inky grace. "Next." Victor sighed, obviously bored with the awkward discussion. Parker nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Fries." He continued as he stood up from the seat. Rubbing his hands, he stood by the door to see if Victor would change his mind. After a miute of silence, he opened the door and left as quietly as humanely possible.

As soon as the door closed, Victor understood that he probably just missed his most willing participant. At least he was eager to do the job.

He heard another knock on the door, and nearly collapsed in his chair. He felt physically unable to do anymore interviews. It had been a week since the scientific journal emailed him.

Ever since, teenagers finishing highschool or starting college flocked to his office. He had gone through twenty-eight of the thirty-six student in the area, and found no one who could help in the way that he needed.

By now, he was running out of hope. It was extremely frustrating that no one met his expectations. They weren't even that high.

Each interview brought him down further. Dragging himself out of his comfortable courdoroy seat, he opened the door to find the Head of Science, Ferris Boyle. Surprised, he pushed back his messy brown hair and dusted off his striped button up shirt.

"Hello, Victor." The tall man smailed warmly. He clapped a hand over Victor's shoulder, and pulled him close.

"I haven't seen you in forever, pal. Why don't you come to the game nights that our compang throws. They are there for us to become more unifed. As a company, you know?" He reasoned.

Victor rolled his eyes. "You know exactly why I don't go. Plus, no one exactly likes being in my company." He took Ferris' hand and pulled it off his shoulder.

"Well," Ferris began, clapping his hands together, "You aren't exactly the easiest man to be around."

Victor sat on his desk and picked up his ballpoint pen. He pointed it straight a Ferris and said "Exactly."

Knowing he wouldn't win the arguement, he said exasperatedly "Anyways, I have a favor to ask you." He paused to see if Victor would ourtight reject him. He didn't.

"So, I understand that you have been looking for a partner to help you with your experiments."

Victor slowly nodded. He stood up, and faced his lab. "I decided that someone should know what to do with my work if something happens to me. I don't want it to be shoved away the minute I leave." Jumping to conclusions, he accused "You aren't coming her for the job, are you?"

Waving his hands infront of him, he retorted "As if I have the knowledge for that." Shrugging, Ferris continued "I have some high class friends, Mr. Edmund Summers and Mrs. Heather Summers. As you know, they have a daughter, named Nora who is fortunate enough to go to private school. Unfortunately, she is, therefore, not included on your list."

Folding his arms, Victor turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"Now why would that happen, Mr. Boyle?"

Looking like a cornered animal, he stuttered. "W-well, the program you have created gives the interns credits that help pay for college. Private schools were not included, because attending one assumes that the student has the means to pay for their own college."

It sounded reasonable, at the very least.

"Get back to your original arguement, Ferris." Victor commanded.

Visibly retracing his steps, Ferris pleaded "Will you please interview her? It would mean everything to me, and her family."

"Of course, Ferris. But only this once." He conceded.

"I will contact them immediately. Right now, Miss Summers is in Montreal. She is doing a ballet performance there, and will be back in two weeks. Thank you so much, Victor." Ferris sped out the door, and up the stairs.

Gently pushing the door closed, Victor racked his mind for that specific name. He knew the Summers were a high class family in Gotham, but it still bothered him.

Slouching in his chair, he turned the power button on, and waited as his computer flickered on. He logged on, and clicked the search bar. Then, he typed in 'Nora Summers'. He quckly looked around his office, simply to assure himself that no one was watching or judging him.

After a few moments, the page loaded. Scrolling down a bit, he looked for a picture. Once he found one, memories started flodding his brain. Nora Summers! He used to babysit her when he was sixteen to pay for science camp.

She was eight then, so she would be sixteen, almost seventeen now. How small the world was. Not only that, but she shared similar interests. He must've rubbed off on her more than he thought.

He clicked on a different page, which highlighted her ballet performances. He couldn't believe that his little Nora had accomplished so much by the age sixteen.

Watching one of her videos, Victor was amazed at her elegance and innate grace. After it had finished, he scrolled down to look at the comments. Many others were impressed. One stood out to Victor, and not in a good way.

The comment read 'Just imagine all the flexibility, but in bed! Ha! That's so hot.'

Victor narrowed his eyes. How dare someone defile Nora's personality. It was so rude and uncalled for that Victor nearly exploded on the spot. He immediately flagged the comment, which hopefully would get removed for its vulgarity.

He decided then and there that he would gladly interview Nora. He wouldn't even consider it a favor. He would do it for Nora.

For a minute, he contemplated if Ferris knew that Nora and himself had history. He might've mentioned it to him at the beginning of his work experience, but no other time. It had to be luck.

Feeling elated, Victor wondered if Nora remembered him too. It would be the only reason that she would pursue Cryobiology and Cryonics, right?

Bookmarking the tabs, he turned off his computer. Pushing his chair into the desk, he picked up his bag and left his office.

Walking up the plethora of stairs, he left the building, exhausted as always. He walked briskly to get to his apartment as fast as possible. If he didn't get back soon, his cousin Heinrich would order pizza again. Victor couldn't stand pizza after the many times of ordering it each week.

Not only that, but he wanted to go through some of his old belongings in storage. He hoped that his parents kept some of the drawings and letters Nora and him made together. Of course they would. His folks were awfully sentimental.

They always teased him because of the job. They often told him how enfatuated Nora was with Victor when he left for college, but he hadn't cared. Hopefully that carelessness hadn't ruined their innocent relationship.

Victor distinctly remembered a time when his parents had called him during his studying.

 _He was sitting at his desk in his college dorm. His roommate was off at some end of the year party. Victor, however, was studying diligently for finals. He knew that he would ace them, but it didn't hurt to be overprepared._

 _Just as he finished an appropriate response for one of his timed essays, the phone began ringing. Normally, it rang for his roommate, but the caller id showed his parent's number. Furrowing his eyebrows, he put it to his ear, and answered._

 _"Hello?"_

 _A warm voice greeted him in his cool dorm room. "Hi, Victor." He shivered slightly, and closed his window which was the source of the chilly air._

 _"What's going on at home?" Victor asked, trying to sound interested._

 _His mom replied "Well, something exciting! Do you remember Nora? You used to babysit her."_

 _He replied cheekily "How could I forget her? What happened?" His tone was engaged, but his mind was distracted._

 _"She just started highschool! And she made the Gotham Ballet Academy. Aren't you excited for her? Perhaps you should write her a letter..."_

 _Sighing, Victor replied "You know that nothing happened. It was a childhood fantasy. She surely got over it." His mother giggled._

 _"Maybe. But you should write the letter anyways. It's only polite. Anyways, do you need anything?"_

 _Victor denied her, and explained that he was studying. Eventually, she gave up trying to converse with him, and hung up._

 _He felt relieved. For a minute, he felt an obligation to actually write the letter, but the feeling left him swiftly._

 _He remained steadfast in his studies._

Now, Victor felt guilty for not writing the letter. He doubted that it would make a difference, but he would never know. Walking up to his room, he pulled out his room key, pushed it in, and opened the door. He noticed that the shower was on, so he assumed that cousin was still in there.

He yelled through the door "DID YOU ORDER PIZZA?"

His cousin took a minute to answer "NO. WILL YOU MAKE SOMETHING?"

Victor yelled back "OF COURSE."

Putting on a pair of warm pajama pants, Victor walked out of the double bedroom and into the living room, where the kitchen was located. Stirring up some pasta and warming up some pasta sauce, Victor made makeshift spaghetti for dinner. Heinrich would eat it, no matter what.

Since Heinrich had yet to come out of the shower, Victor began and finished eating without him. He left the leftovers on the microwave so they would stay warm for Heinrich.

On his way back to the bedroom, he turned the T.V. off. His cousin always left it running.

He laid on his bed, and proptly fell asleep knowing the day turned out better than he thought it would.


	4. Chapter 4

**Back with a new chapter. School has been a little more difficult that expected, so I'm not able write as much as I would like to. I also have a few random one-shots planned, so hopefully I'll get those out faster.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Ever since Victor heard that his young 'sweetheart' was coming back to town from a performance, Victor couldn't wait to meet up again. Perhaps he had been negligent, but he believed that with this opportunity, he could make up for the lost time. Hopefully, she wouldn't flat out reject him for his ignorance.

Victor sat at his desk, nervously rearranging his cheap ballpoint pens.

It had been a week since Ferris Boyle had visited him, and Nora was returning to Gotham the next day. It was just one day till their appointment, and Victor was ecstatic.

His concentration level severely declined, and he was hardly able to get any work done.

Logging back on to his work computer, Victor watched a couple more videos of Nora's recent success. One of the videos was linked to an interview she gave, and Victor immediately watched it.

The first part was extemely boring, asking meaningless questions, such as "What is your favorite color?". By the middle of the interview, to reporter stated "So, I heard that you have been offered a scholarship to Gotham's Fine Arts Academy. Are you going to accept?"

This caught Victor's attention, and his heart began racing, waiting to be disappointed with an affirmative response. Quite the opposite occurred.

"No. I've thought it over, and dance is not what I primarily want to pursue. It may seem that it is my singular focus, but in reality, it is only a hobby. Many of you may be thinking 'Why would she give up a scholarship?'. My true passion in life is actually science. It has been, and always will be my dream. When I was eight, I had a babysitter who was set on becoming a scientist." She paused for a moment.

"That pereserverance unlocked something in myself. I knew, from that moment on, if I pushed myself to my limits and beyond, I could be just like him. So I involved myself in science clubs and found out that I loved it as well. It was a beautiful revelation. I can only dream that my inspiration remembers me, and is proud of my acent. Thank you, Victor."

He immediately turned off his computer, and blushed. He blushed so hard, it was indecent. He couldn't believe the role he played in Nora's life. She based her life decisions off his own. And she remembered him, even his name.

Standing up from his chair, he folded his glasses and put them in his bag. Turning off all the lights on his floor, he locked his office shut, and began climbing the obscene amount of stairs. As he walked onto the main floor, he saw through the doors that it was nighttime again.

How he longed to see Nora again.

He walked home in the damp Gotham air, and kept his mind on Nora. Simply her, almost to the point that it bordered on obssesion.

Victor didn't even notice the three suspiscious women following him in the ever growing dark.

Walking into his apartment, he called out Heinrich's name, supposing that he was still there. Turning around to close his apartment door, he was punched straight in the nose, causing him to black out.

* * *

As he awoke, he felt ropes heavily holding him down against a flat, yet grainy surface. A table?

Opening his eyes, he saw only blackness, and panicked, thinking he had gone blind. He quickly realized that there was a blindfold on his eyes to prevent him from seeing his attackers.

But he knew who they were the minute one of them began talking. "Hello, kitten." Catwoman silkily purred.

He felt a wet towel cover his nose. Believing that it was chlorophorm, he struggled to get away."Relax," her voice rumbled "You had a bloody nose, so I'm just cleaning it up." He did relax slightly, but a tenseness remained in his shoulders.

A few minjtes of silence later, Victor asked "How were you able to escape Arkham so quickly? I thought that they recently upgraded the security system."

Catwoman laughed "Why would they send us to Arkham? All we did was a break-and-enter. Not to mention, I have some ties to Batman."

Victor inwardly cursed. Why was Batman so cruel to him? He cleared his throat. "I don't believe you. Batman is a hero, and you are a simple jewelry thief."

This incited anger in Catwoman. "Insolent boy. Do you really know who I am? I'm Batman's lover, he would never send me to a mental asylum." She swiftly moved around the table "Ever. He doesn't bother us as long as we don't do anything harsh."

He heard giggling in the backround. Boldly, he asked "Is there anything I can do for you ladies? Refreshments, perhaps?" His tone was awfully sarcastic, but Harley answered "Thanks, mister!" She helped herself to his fridge.

"Actually," Ivy languidly let out "I need your help. We all know that you are the best at your job, and figured that you would do. On my latest trip to Siberia, I retrieved some seeds from a monastery-". Victor interrupted "Meaning stole-". He coild practically hear Ivy's lips curl in amusement. "Bold, are we?"

She continued her tale. "The monks told me that they had been frozenfor years, but needed to stay cold for a total of fifty years to become ready for planting." She stopped.

"Can I trust you to keep them safe until I come back for them?" Knowing he had little choice, he nodded, but added "Only if you promise to keep Nora Summers safe in Gotham."

Ivy loosened the band on his wrist so they could shake hands. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but we can't have you following us." And he was knocked out again.

* * *

As Victor woke up, he heard his cousin laughingby the stove. What had happened?

Heinrich smiled. "What did you do last night, go drinking withoutme? I found you lying on the kitchen table."

Victor's face flushed. He couldn't tell Heinrich the truth, that the Gotham City Sirens had tied him up again. Heinrich would call the police, and he would have to admit his weakness again.

Not to mention, he'd probably get followed by the police. So all he replied with was "Yep. You know Nora Summers is coming to town, and becoming my lab assistant. I Was celebrating."

Heinrich seemed to believe it. He shrugged and continued standing by the stove. Victor finally picked his head from off the table go see why he standing by the stove.

He was just cooking eggs.

Wait, Victor remembered, Heinrich can't cook...

Just then, the pan exploded into flames, and Heinrich screames. Without thinking, he pured his cup on the quickly building fire.

Victor slapped his forehead. He stood up dizzily, and headed to the pantry to find baking soda. Without thinking properly, he took the flour and spread it all over the stove.

But the fire kept growing. Smartly, Heinrich took the fire extinguisher from under the sink, and pulled the pin.

He aimed it at the base of the flame until it went out.

Once they turned the stove completely off, they both ccollapsed at the dining table, and let the adrenaline pumping through them melt away.

"That," Heinrich pointed at Victor, "Is why we need to create a sub-zero freeze ray."

Victor chuckled shakily. "We've gone over this. I'm not making you a cool gun just to fulfill your childhood fantasy."

Heinrich sighed sarcastically."Speaking of your job, are you gonna make it there on time? It's already 7:30."

Victor's tired eyes opened. Of course he would be late the one day he needed to impress. Nora was coming to see him again.

Heinrich ruffled his younger cousin's hair. "And you need to look nice for that girl, right? You still have a crush on her."

Victor pushed his ccousin out of the way as he put his glasses back on. "Shut up. She was eight. Now she's sixteen. She's still a minor."

"Whatever," replied Heinrich, "Wear your blue tie, the nice one from Germany." Victor nodded, as he went to get dressed.

He buttoned his white oxford, and carefully tied his tied. PUlling on his shoes and blazer, he gave his goodbyes and left the apartment.

As he made it to the building, he walked down the stairs, expecting to see Nor waiting for him there. Disappointment struck himas he saw no one standing outside his door of his office.

Instead, there was a note stuck to his door. It read:

"We decided to take Nora upstairs while you decided to be late."

The note was anonymous, but Victor knew it was from the arrogant worker upstairs.

He reached into his pocked for his office keys, but his fingers hit a small icy bag. Ivy's seeds! He found his actual keys and unlocked the door to his office. Walking swiftly to the laboratory side of his office, and put on a pair of heavy duty gloves. Pulling a pair of lab goggles over his eyes, he opened his coldest freezer.

Hopefully this would be enough, thought Victor. He didn't want to face the negative consequences of one wrong action.

Leaving his office door open, he stomped up the stairs to the ground floor, and took the elevator to the fifteenth floor. He tried to compose himself to look pleasant, at least for Nora. As the doors opened, he saw the floor greeting Nora as she smiled awkwardly.

Her soft blonde hair was swept up into a bun, with a few curled pieces floating. She wore a maroon colored pencil dress with short sleeves, and a pair of peep toe flats. Her hazel eyes gleamed and caught his eye.

"Victor?" She asked.

He was too stunned to reply.


End file.
